Jeffrey Barnes
Thomas Jefferson "Jeffrey" Barnes is a main character and a Nerd Herder, specializing in Apple products. An alcoholic in his forties, he was champion of Missile Command in 1983 and is significantly older than his coworkers, aside from John Casey and manager Big Mike. He is portrayed by Scott Krinsky. He has a ferret named Roscoe as a pet. It has also been revealed that he only has eight toes and does not pay for toilet paper. He is also deaf in his left ear. His father is evidently part Native-American, allowing Jeff to satisfy a quota at the Buy More. His mother is in prison (prisoner 27318), and his sister works (at least part time) as an exotic dancer and performed at Devon Woodcomb's bachelor party. Jeff can be seen as Buy More employee of the month in the Season Three episode , despite his previous actions and attitude. When, in the final season, he stops sleeping in his van, he recovers rapidly from his decades of self-poisoning and shows remarkable intelligence and insight, although with lapses. Character Profile Jeff's best friend is Lester Patel, and the series frequently involves the two scheming together and have grouped together to create the band Jeffster!. In , he and Lester were responsible for the theft of Big Mike's fish, Marlin, which contained a Fulcrum bug receiver. He and Lester frequent the Bennigan's bar across the street from the Buy More, presumably picking up women there. Jeff is frequently shown to be a pervert. He once left his underwear in the back of a company Nerd Herd vehicle. Several episodes have shown that Jeff is attracted to Anna Wu, calling her his muse, but the feeling is not reciprocated; he made a musical montage of Anna featuring several candid (i.e. stalker-like) photos. The majority of his Buy More paycheck is spent on alcohol and spy gear. Jeff also has an "office" set up in stall 2 of the Buy More employee bathroom in which he takes a daily nap from 3pm-5pm. His "office" was first shown in "Chuck Versus the Predator," and contained a toilet used as a cooler for his alcoholic beverages along with an easy chair, lava lamp, and various wall decorations. Jeff carries keys to the store, and according to Morgan is the only employee who knows how the store's registers work. When interviewing with Chuck for the assistant manager's position he reveals he was the store's first employee. Jeff is the keyboardist, composer, rhythm section, and sound technician of the two-man band (along with Lester) called "Jeffster!" and auditioned (with Toto's Africa) to be the band for the wedding of Ellie and Devon. Jeffster!, though not officially hired for the wedding, nonetheless performed Styx's Mr. Roboto before the ceremony. Jeff's interest in music began as a child when he first heard Jethro Tull's Aqualung (on vinyl of course). After showing great promise as a vibraphone player in his high school's jazz ensemble, he went on to play in a variety of rock 'n' roll bands; Jeffster! is his current project. He claims as influences Herbie Hancock, Greg Rollie, Rick Wakeman, and John Cage. According to the card Jeff carries which reads, "My name is Jeff and I'm lost", his address is 1629 Handley Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601. In Chuck vs the Ring II, it is revealed that Jeff is deaf in his left ear. After the going out of business sale at the Buy More, Jeff suggests burning down the Buy More as a way of preserving the employees jobs. After Morgan accidentally blows up the Buy More, Jeff and Lester become prime suspects in the case. In Chuck vs the A-Team Jeff is said to be psychic. When trying to find the Intersect computer, he predicts that it is with the CIA (dismissed as the name "Cia"). The CIA did indeed have it when it was revealed to be in the NCS section of Castle. Jeff returns in season 4 in "Chuck Versus the Suitcase" where Casey and Morgan tranq them (it takes 6 tranq darts and a blow from Morgan to knock him out) and bring them back the Buy More to resume their Nerd Herd jobs to enhance the CIA substation’s cover. In "Chuck Versus the Fear of Death" Jeff and Lester almost expose a Greta that was undercover in the Buy More. In "Chuck Versus the Last Details" it is shown that Jeff has a nice, sweet, and mature side when he made a good video contribution for Chuck and Sarah at their wedding rehearsal, unlike Lester's video, which had him in a horrible costume singing. In "Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips" it is revealed that the source for Jeff's strange behavior is the fact that he sleeps in his van with the engine running, resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning his brain. When Devon gets Jeff to stop sleeping in the van, Jeff becomes very responsible and normal. Series Jeff is generally a supporting character throughout the series, however he has periodically contributed to the main plot of an episode. His most prominent role was in "Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer," where he was targeted by a terrorist as the only person who could potentially reach the "Kill Screen" in Missile Command and retrieve the launch codes for an orbiting missile-armed satellite. In this episode Chuck convinced Jeff to come out of "retirement" in an effort to stop the terrorist launch, but Jeff choked, forcing Chuck to attempt to recover the codes himself. He has indirectly been involved in several other missions as well. His and Lester's theft of Big Mike's marlin in initiated much of the plot, as the entire episode centered around locating the stolen fish and the Fulcrum receiver planted inside it. In Jeff helped Devon investigate Casey's unusual behavior regarding Chuck, and expressed professional admiration for him as a stalker. Jeffster!'s impromptu performance at Ellie and Devon's wedding in bought the team time to protect Ellie and capture Ted Roark. In Jeff assists Casey in taking down one of the Ring agents, which have taken over the Buy More, while being high from chloroform. Development Beginning with the second season premiere, actor Scott Krinsky was listed in the opening credits as a series regular. Krinsky was offered the role of Jeff by producer Josh Schwartz largely due to Krinsky's previous work on Schwartz's series The O.C., although he was still required to read for the role for network approval. He describes Jeff as a "lifer," who was at the store before the other characters and will be there after they're gone. Reaction Jeff's bizarre behavior throughout the series has garnered significant attention from critics and viewers. Eric Goldman of IGN.com particularly cited his approval of the writers' willingness to find strange things for Jeff to do in his review of "Chuck Versus the Third Dimension", though he also found Jeff overcoming his fear of playing Missile Command again in the final moment of "Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer" touching. Alan Sepinwall of the New Jersey Star-Ledger has praised many of Jeff's antics, including intentionally knocking himself out with a bottle of chloroform to "get himself right," hiring his own sister as a stripper for Devon's bachelor party, and his "office" in the men's room stall. Category:Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Buy More Staff Category:Male Category:Nerd Herder